You got to admit, this has been a nice ride, but as of today, I am going to suspend "SOCIALLY BLOGWARDS".
For the time being, I am going to work on my affiliate blog Journal De La Reyna. I will contribute some of my articles and latest issues through this channel and of course my new project. I dubbed it the Blue Light Buzz. It's a website that will focus on the things that I've discussed on this blog. I will take the time to design it and make it appeal to the masses.
I felt that the need to revise a new strategy so I decided to create another blog in relations to the issues involving the government, the community and the mainstream media.
Check out my new blog at "BLUE LIGHT BUZZ" or visit the blog "JOURNAL DE LA REYNA" for the latest updates from me and my allies in the blogosphere.
The 2012 U.S. Presidential Elections is a challenge for incumbent Barack Obama. Five years ago, then senator from Illinois was under fire for what was perceived as a constant whisper campaign by conservatives the moment he announced he would run for the President of The United States.
As he gears up for a reelection against the potential Republican nominee, I want to go back to the many things the Republican Party tired in sabotaging Barack Obama. The gloves been off, and now we'll see the very same characters go after President Barack Obama. They want to deny him a reelection.
1. The Insight Magazine online publication making the claim that Barack Obama attended a madrassa in Indonesia when he was young. Fox News commentators John Gibson, Steve Doocy, Gretchen Carlson and Brian Kilmeade took aim at Barack Obama by claiming that then senator Hillary Clinton and her presidential campaign were responsible for the claim. The Barack Obama campaign responds back and calls the notion false. The campaign begins the boycott of Fox News.
2. The issue with his record as then state senator from Illinois. A pro-life activist Jill Stanek makes the claim that she knew Barack Obama when he was then a state senator, and made the claim that Obama was not concerned with a legislative bill that would prevent late term abortions. The talking point from conservatives such as Sean Hannity, and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich were that "[Barack Obama] is killing babies by supporting infanticide!" This issue would also come to light when Randall Terry, Alan Keyes and Jill Stanek were protesting President Barack Obama attending University of Norte Dame for a commencement.
3. A prominent Chicago pastor became the lightening rod for Barack Obama. Jeremiah Wright, a former pastor at the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago was the subject of various attacks from conservatives over his sermons in which it criticized the United States role in the world. Wright, a former U.S. military doctor was critical of issues by then President George W. Bush and Republicans, the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign taking using "racial politics" to scare white voters and the media for misquoting his sermons. Fox News, in particular Sean Hannity was invested in the controversy. Hannity had interviewed Wright during a segment of his show and they got into a heated debate over Barack Obama's association with the church. This issue continues to be a thing that most conservatives refuse to let go. Jeremiah Wright has long left the church and is doing speaking tours at colleges and theological seminaries. Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Andrew Breitbart, and particularly Fox News continue to rehash this issue up once again and the 2012 Republican candidates promise that this issue will be mentioned again.
4. If you weren't aware of the whisper campaign about being Muslim, you're way out the loop. The never-ending notion that President Barack Obama is a closet Islamist radical was mentioned by conservatives. A conservative activist by the name of Andy Martin claims responsibility for the rumors. This controversy has been active during the 2004 U.S. Senate campaign in which Barack Obama handily defeated perennial candidate Alan Keyes. During the campaign, the supporters of John McCain's presidential campaign were making references to claims of his name. Cincinnati talk radio host, Bill Cunningham went onstage and made acknowledgement of "Barack Hussein Obama" in attempt to rile up voters still concerned with the fact his name is somehow tied to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The madrassa story from earlier was a driving force to making conservatives suspect the presidential candidate was somehow a Muslim who plots on destroying the United States from within. As President Barack Obama, the claims of being a Muslim will never go away. The very fact that he attended the Trinity United Church of Christ is not enough to stop that rumor. When President Barack Obama went to Egypt to speak to the Islamic nation, that flared up more rumors of him being a secret Muslim. Recently, U.S. marines created a controversy by burning the Islamic Q'uran in Afghanistan. The president reached out to the leader of Afghanistan and apologized for the actions. U.S. presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich alongside former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin went on the offense claiming that President Obama has more sympathy for the "Muslims" than those who killed U.S. soldiers.
5. The alleged affairs by Barack Obama. From a conspiracy kook to a former campaign adviser, the Republicans were hoping that another "Monica Lewinsky" scandal to fall upon Barack Obama. The first one, Larry Sinclair. This man who has been known in the circles as a conspiracy kook was flaring up the rumor that Barack Obama had a homosexual affair with him while on a cocaine binge. Sinclair claims that the president is paying huge sums to prevent the stories from ever hitting the newspapers. Vera Baker, a former campaign supporter and adviser was allegedly involved in a romantic affair with then candidate Barack Obama during the 2008 U.S. presidential elections. Although she denied it, The Drudge Report and many conservatives were hoping that "smoking gun" is still loaded and hoping this issue will become a 2012 October Surprise.
6. The never-ending birth certificate issue. What was started by a vexatious litigant named Andy Martin, the rumors of President Barack Obama's birthplace continue to be a hot issue within the conservative circles. Talk radio host such as InfoWars founder Alex Jones, conservative talk radio hosts Rush Limbaugh, Bill Cunningham, Lou Dobbs, Fox News commentators such as Andrew Napolitano, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity were invested in the birth certificate. Ongoing activist Orly Taitz, WorldNetDaily contributors Joseph Farrah, Dr. Jerome Corsi, and controversial Black preacher James David Manning invested the controversy. Many conservatives continue to deny the fact that Barack Obama is indeed an American citizen. In 2007, the whisper campaigns of him being a Kenyan came forth after the Washington Times, WorldNetDaily and The Drudge Report took upon "facts" from members of his estranged father's family. Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1961, and lived with his mother for a portion of his time growing up. During that time, he traveled from Hawaii, to Indonesia, back to Hawaii and then to the mainland. Before he became a U.S. senator, the rumors of his birthplace were mention but not to the degree as it is today. Barack Obama during the campaign released a short-form birth certificate stating his place of birth. That didn't satisfy conservatives. Orly Taitz leads the way in trying to bring lawsuits in federal court stating that she can prove Barack Obama is ineligible to be president. The conflict gotten worse. Donald Trump, a media mogul and potential candidate for president threw his weight into the debate. After a few moments of polling well against Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin and Chris Christie in a Republican match up against President Barack Obama, Trump decided to push the issue further by demanding the long form birth certificate. In April 2011, President Barack Obama presented the long form birth certificate. This issue hasn't went away. Taitz continues to push forth her lawsuits against President Obama and more conservatives are still unsure whether the president is an American citizen.
7. The guilt by association theme once again. With a former anti-war radical coming to light, Barack Obama once again has to defend himself from a person he knew only as a neighbor down the block. Bill Ayers, a retired professor at The University of Illinois branch Chicago became another issues conservatives pounced on. In the late 1960s at the peak of Civil Rights movement and anti-Vietnam protests, Ayers was a leader of the Weather Underground, an anti-war activist group that did domestic terrorism against political establishments. Sean Hannity once again rode this controversy all the way to the election. When former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin came forth during the election, her quote "palling around with terrorists", conservatives managed to sway opinion against the professor and of course Barack Obama. Ambushing Bill Ayers and his family with cameras, conservatives continue to demand Ayers come clean about his relationship with Barack Obama. Recently the issue was rehashed again after conservative agitators Andrew Breitbart and Tucker Carlson went on Sean Hannity's show claiming they've met and dine with the former professor. They believe that he was responsible for writing two of the president's successful books. The issue will not die and expect this continue throughout the election.
8. The culture war is brewing again. After the 2008 U.S. elections, one thing became clear, Republicans wanted to stick anything to Barack Obama. A woman named Peggy Joseph went on camera stating that Barack Obama was going to help her with her bills and make things alright. Conservative went into uproar. Two New Black Panthers were standing at a polling station in Black neighborhood. One holding a baton, and threatening the conservative videographers. They post it online, and it became a conservative outrage. In 2009, Henry "Skip" Gates was arrested at his home by police officer Robert Crowley. The president went forth to acknowledge the issue as a problem due to the unprecedented profiling of Black and Hispanic/Latino males being pulled over. Conservatives went into an uproar. The president goes on Jay Leno and makes a off-color joke that makes fun of his disabilities in certain sports, conservatives went into an uproar claiming the president doesn't respect those with special needs. The president throws the ceremonial baseball pitch, conservatives mock his pitching stance. The president wanted a basketball court added to the White House, conservatives went into an uproar. The president delivers a speech to the elementary and high school students, a traditional theme among previous presidents. Conservatives went forth to pulling their children out of school and boycotting the president's speech. Conservatives went forth to attacking the president, First Lady Michelle Obama and their children for taking vacations. The conservatives blamed the president for overreaching during two terrible hurricanes, the Gulf Oil spill in which BP was responsible, and of course, the continuous blame for the economy. A thing he's inherited since he took office. When the president won a Nobel Peace Price in 2009, conservative went into an uproar. When the president tried to get the Summer Olympics to Chicago and it was rejected, conservative cheered. Glenn Beck, claimed the president has a deep seated hatred for white people. Sarah Palin claimed that President Obama's "Winning The Future" was a "WTF" plan. Rush Limbaugh declared that he "hopes he failed". Bill O'Reilly and Bret Brier interrupts the president during an interview. Fox network omits the president's addresses to the nation for television programs such as Glee and American Idol. The saving of civilians overseas from Somali pirates, the killing of al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki, conservatives give little to no credit for the president effective actions. The constant impatience of the public has waned on his popular and conservatives are relishing in defeating the president.
9. The beginnings of the Tea Party movement. In 2008, the bitter fight between Democratic presidential primaries between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. They managed to take this fight all the way to June 2008 and during that time, a lot of disgruntled Hillary-supporters vowed they'll ditch the Democratic nominee and vote for John McCain the Republican nominee for president. Some have forgotten about the women who were involved in the grassroots movements, such as People United Means Actions (PUMAs), Clintons 4 McCain and Hillbuzz. It's leaders include: Darragh Murphy, Harriet Christian, Christi Adkins and Debra Bartoshevich, former Democrats who claimed that Barack Obama is not worthy of the leading the United States. Most in the media dismissed them as "plants" for the Republican Party, ridiculed them for playing the gender and race card and pretty much wiped them out of the mainstream press.
In November 2008, when Barack Obama secured enough electoral votes to be declared the winner, Republicans look upon this as a disaster and vowed revenge. Most conservatives believe that Barack Obama was given a easy ride based on his race. The conservative bemoan about the media's focus on a historical milestone of nominating an African American for president. They blame Barack Obama for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and the Troubled Assets Relief Program. Although President Obama carried upon the actions of these laws, the signature of the final acts were by President George W. Bush. Republicans were upset upon President Obama signing of American Investment Job and Recovery Act in which is stimulate growth in the economy and helped middle class families with a tax cut.
These notions were rejected by conservatives. In February 2009, spurred by outrage at what conservatives claim is "government overreach", the Tea Party was born. What started as a mild protest composed of the cult followers of Republican Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, became the hub for people such as Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Herman Cain, Joe The Plumber and those disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters. The disgruntled voters vowed that he will only serve out one term and they will rebound with a suitable president capable of "taking their country back!" They've sought motivation in Glenn Beck, Joe The Plumber, Andrew Breitbart, Dick Armey and even comedian Victoria Jackson.
The process of the Tea Party movement was spurn with disrespect upon the President Obama by Joe Wilson, Republican congressman from South Carolina with "You Lie!" upon the Joint Session of Congress speech. It gave rise to presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, congresswoman from Minnesota. It spurred angry town halls in which Democratic lawmakers were challenged on issues such as the health care reform. It motivated political minded conservatives of Black, Hispanic/Latino and Asian race to enter into politics. Black Republicans such Allen West of Florida, Tim Scott of South Carolina were elected on the motivation of the Tea Party. It help secure the first Latina Susana Martinez woman to be governor of New Mexico.It helped two Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Nikki Haley of South Carolina to become the first of Indian/Asian decent to be governors of two southern states. The Tea Party managed to elect Senators Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky. The Tea Party help the Republicans retake the House of Representatives and state/territorial governorships.
Now as the 2012 elections gear up, these elements are still brewing. The Republicans are currently in disarray over the perceive notion that the field of Republican candidates are weak. The Tea Party is really upset with not only President Barack Obama but the Republican leaders as well. The dubbed the moderates and the politically established as RINOs (Republican(s) in Name Only). They are feuding within the party over who's capable of being a conservative leader capable of beating the president. So far, it's still long road ahead with the field and they hope that it can bring them together. In spite of the disarray, Republicans are rushing legislation such as voter identification to prevent Blacks, Hispanic/Latinos, the poor and young voters, a key demographic to Barack Obama from voting. The Republicans are planning to run campaigns to distract voters with culture war issues such as eliminating subsides for lower and middle class, rolling back regulations on the environment, and control a woman's right for birth control.
10. Once again, I stress that the Republican Party and its allies in the conservative movement are wrapping their asses around the American flag in preparedness of a culture war. The culture war has an enemy. The middle class, the working class, the lower class, minorities, [independent women and single mother's] rights, GLBT, those who practice in Islam, and the many supporters of President Barack Obama are considered enemies of the state. The Republicans passed legislation that catered to extremists. Since he took office, the race issue came forth after many Republicans were force to apologize for sending racist and downright offensive emails to their friends. Colorado Republican Congressman Doug Lamborn called President Barack Obama a tar baby. He later apologized. Arizona Republican Congressman Trent Franks questioned his birth certificate, and called him an enemy of humanity. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky the Republican minority leader, stated his goal was to deny President Barack Obama a second term. Black conservatives play upon the narratives that President Obama is not an effective leader to the Black community. Glenn Beck targeting his former adviser Van Jones. Andrew Breitbart, James O'Keefe went after a community organization known as ACORN. They successful put ACORN out of business. The Republicans passed legislation to cut funding to NPR and Planned Parenthood. Republicans held public sessions to make the case against the Muslim community. The Republicans called for the firing of Attorney General Eric Holder for the mishandling of firearms in which it lead to the killing of a U.S. border agent. Holder, is the first Black attorney general. In states where Republicans were in control, some legislators passed laws that go against the federal government. State Republicans are passing legislation that targets illegal immigrants overstepping the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Concealed carry firearms in public places were passed in states. Republicans passed legislation to prevent abortions and outlaw birth control. Voter identification laws were passed to prevent lower incomes and minorities from voting. All these issues are certainly out there and people are not happy about the results.
Republicans are very unpopular right now. They spent a majority of the 112th Congress on culture war issues. The government overreach has made voters in swing states turn sour on the Republicans. Ohio governor John Kasich was handed a defeat after he and Ohio Republicans passed legislation that prevented public sector unions from collective bargaining. Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and Republican state senators are facing a recall election after the passage of a bill that also stripped collective bargaining from public sector unions. Florida governor Rick Scott is under fire for his signing of mandatory drug testing for food stamp and welfare recipients and the rejection of a commutator rail service in the state. Arizona governor Jan Brewer, signed legislation that overstepped the federal government's role in handling illegal immigration. The law is being challenged in court.
The Republican Party have created so many controversies, President Barack Obama's allies can't stop them all at once. My goal is simple. I will waste no time trying to help this man win reelection. I will no longer endorse the notion the Republicans are capable of fixing the economic turmoils we all are facing as Americans. I will continue to stand independent of the situation and offer my honest opinion of issues that matter.
I mean why does the Ron Perot cult always continue to make the case for that failure of a perennial candidate.
Amber Lee Ettinger, may the world bless you with the talent you've given through your social networks and modeling. I hope the best.
But as far as it goes, when you support President Barack Obama not matter who you are, you're going to be the punching bag of the right wing ignorance machine. No matter who gets the GOP nomination, they'll go underhanded to defeat him. And it's up to the people who support President Barack Obama to help him win. Let's do it!
Ignore the ignorance of the Republicans and its allies of the conservative movement. Let's put this man back into the White House.
C'mon what are you waiting on?
Oh by the way, for those who support the cult of Ron Perot! How's it's like being a winner? Something that he'll never transition himself into! Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
It's a damn shame that people like this still get away with beating up Iraqis.
Anyways, the Republican Party and its allies in the conservative movement are wrapped around the American flag in preparedness of a culture war. The middle class, the lower class, minorities, GLBT, [independent women/single mother's] rights, those who practice in Islam, and the supporters of Barack Obama are enemies of the United States. Congressman Allen West and many like this are pretty effed up for saying stuff like this.
But this is Allen West's opinion and he's entitled to it. It's just gives the Democratic Party and it's allies in the progressive movement more ammunition to paint the Republicans as the racist, sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic, overreach morons. It makes me less likely to support Republicans let alone this politician. And it's likely that I'll support President Barack Obama a little more than eventual Republican nominee.
So therefore, let my comments reign down this page and eventually to someone who overwhelming disagrees with my assessment of this. I am assuring that someone will take the bait and try their hardest to make the case that I'm wrong and they're right!
Like every Republican such as Congressman Louie Gohmert, they'll keep saying what they want despite having the first female House Speaker and the first Black President. We don't care how it affects our constituents! We want [Obama] to fail!
It ain't about the economy!
It ain't about jobs!
It ain't about solving reasonable issues!
They just want this [Independent] woman and Black man to fail.
This represents the culture war within the Republican Party along with allies like Rush Limbaugh (and the conservative movement). They're engaged in an ongoing rift of trivial issues instead of a broader sense of urgency as a nation to fix the problems that affect everyone. The enemies are the middle class, lower class, minorities, GLBT, those who practice in Islam and the many supporters of Barack Obama deemed by Republicans and its allies as enemies of the state.
These culture wars within the Republican Party are not the practices of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. These practices are fully within the ongoing struggle between rational and irrational.
Congressman Gohmert is an example of why King's Dream is still burning alive. We must overcome. I can't do much other than enlighten this delusional man and his allies within the Republican Party and conservative movement. Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
I guess a $10,000 bet to a political rival is not out of touch, eh?
Flipper, making them splashes for those sardines.
Mitt Romney and the rest of the useful idiots are still riding on that "Obama failed" narrative.
What do you offer other than cheap, petty, and nonessential attacks?
They really think its easy being the President Of the United States!
Nope. They can't even be specific on how they can improve the economy without tearing apart that incentives that President Barack Obama signed into law.
Which way will Mitt Romney go?
I know he'll be joining Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich in the back of the history books as failed candidates!
How can you handle pressure when you up and end an interview?
If Barack Obama can tolerate ongoing nonsense about his birth certificate, his religion, his former pastor, his neighbor who was once an anti-war radical, and other issues which managed to surface from right wing media, how come he didn't just up and walk away?
While this character is entitled to speak his mind, I am as well! I am going to say this! The Republicans, its candidates and their allies in the conservative movement are wrapped around the American flag in the preparedness of a culture war in which they will lie and deceive the misinformed!
Since the rise, the old newsletters of "Ron Perot" came out, he's denied them! He goes anal on Sasha Baron Cohen after being fooled into seduction by "Bruno"! His cult-following are still engaged in the arm chair war online. Where the slight's amount of criticism towards this guy is treason!
The core of Ron Perot's base is a bunch of disengaged conservatives and libertarians who are not satisfied with GOP presidential field, liberals who think the Drug War is bias towards their support of legalizing marijuana, conspiracy theorists (birthers, 9/11 truthers, PNAC, NWO, and North American Union, etc.), extremists (White supremacists, tax revolters, anti-Semitics, militias, or the lone wolf terrorist) and those who think they've read the U.S. Constitution "all the ways!" Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
The Republicans, its allies in the conservative movement, and the candidates running for President Of The United States are wrapping their asses around the American flag in preparedness of a culture war.
I don't care what the polls say right now! We haven't made it to October 2012 when the round of presidential debates will have the Republican nominee line up their plans against President Barack Obama.
I would love to see if they could throw around all the "red meat" to a ravenous crowd misinformed voters during the primary debates. Only in a Republican primary debate, you could hear all the talk about how "this marxist is trying to play on the minds of voters with this class warfare rhetoric!".
But give them a serious debate to really show how they can handle pressure. I only hope that the Republican nominee whether its either Romney, Gingrich, or Paul will make their tongue stick out in a weird way like John McCain did and an Associated Press reporter catches it! Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
This first session of the 112th Congress was wasted for the most part in the [Republicans] stupid "culture war".
I am extremely concerned that the lower and middle class (of course those employed) will have no money to pay bills, support families and enjoy the luxuries the high end earners enjoy.
I am very concerned that the following year we'll see more of this during the peak months when oil prices increase and we'll sore back to the nearly $4.00 gallon gasoline.
I am very concerned that since the unbalanced driven by all the overheated rhetoric will cause a tragedy post Gabrielle Giffords.
I am concerned that more politically heated rhetoric from Republicans who bring up canards of "IMPEACHMENT", "BIG GOVERNMENT", "SOCIALISM", telling people to "WAKE UP" will masquerade for pushing overreaching laws to repeal progress.
I am concerned that we'll have a Republican president who will drive this country back into a deeper recession let alone a depression. Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
This is just an example of the mindset of a hateful society we've come adjourned to. It doesn't matter who's the President Of The United States, the First Lady or the Vice President, it's just our reactionary mindset of how we'll never be satisfied with whomever leads this country.
The Republicans are wrapping their asses around the American flag in preparedness of a "culture war!"
The Republican "culture war" has an enemy. The enemy is the middle class, lower class, minorities, unions, GLBT, those who practice in Islam, and the many supporters of President Barack Obama.
The Republican "culture war" masquerade debates in order to create a volatile environment for political gain. These canards of "big government, soft on terror, high taxes, liberal media, and wanted people to wake up" are typical weapons [Republicans] used in the culture war!
Everything President Barack Obama is presenting to help the middle class is a "giveaway to the low incrumbs" according to the Republicans and its allies in the conservative media. The first session of the 112th Congress has been wasted on abortion laws, pork barrel spending, making lawmakers read the Constitution before presenting bills and stripping benefits from seniors and the poor.
Politics is a ugly game, if you're the president of the current party, the opposition fiercely opposes everything! No amount of good will satisfy an opposition. Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
WASHINGTON -- A state permit to carry a concealed firearm would be valid in almost every other state in the country under legislation the House passed Wednesday.
The first pro-gun bill the House has taken up this year and the first since Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., was severely injured in a gun attack in January, it had the National Rifle Association's backing and passed by a comfortable margin. The vote was 272-154, with only seven Republicans voting against it and 43 Democrats supporting it.
The Democratic-controlled Senate has no parallel bill. But two years ago, GOP Sens. John Thune of South Dakota and David Vitter of Louisiana nearly succeeded in attaching a similar measure to a larger bill.
Under the House legislation, people with a concealed carry permit in one state could carry a concealed weapon in every other state that gives people the right to carry concealed weapons. While states have various standards for issuing such permits, currently only Illinois and the District of Columbia prohibit the concealed carrying of weapons.
"The Second Amendment is a fundamental right to bear arms that should not be constrained by state boundary lines," said GOP Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
The bill's chief co-sponsor, Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., said states should consider concealed carry permits no differently from driver's licenses recognized by all states. He noted that many states already have reciprocity agreements with other states.
The legislation would "make it easier for law-abiding permit holders to know that they are simply in compliance with the law when they carry a firearm as they travel," he said.
Democratic opponents said the bill would constitute a "race to the bottom," with states that have strict requirements for issuing permits having to accept permits from states with far more lax standards.
"It's a situation where weaker state laws become the national law," said Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va. He noted that some states require training for permit holders, or deny permits to those under 21 or who sell drugs to minors, commit sex offenses or are involved in domestic violence.
According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the measure would allow states with tough requirements, such as New York and California, "to allow in concealed carry gun-toting people from states, such as Florida, which repeatedly have given dangerous people licenses to carry."
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., and Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., wrote President Barack Obama last week urging him to issue a veto threat against the bill. Passing the bill "would jeopardize public safety and would be an insult to states like New Jersey and New York that purposefully have strong gun ownership laws," they wrote.
The administration has not yet taken an official position on the bill.
Democrats also chided Republicans for ignoring their dedication to states' rights. "For the Republican House majority that supposedly believes in states' rights, this bill is shocking," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.
There hasn't been much legislative action on firearms issues this year. A spending bill that the House is expected to vote on this week would bar the Justice Department from consolidating firearms sales records or maintaining information on people who have passed firearms background checks.
The chief sponsors of the concealed weapon measure, Stearns and Rep. Heath Shuler, D-N.C., said their proposal would not create a federal licensing system but merely require states to honor one another's carry permits.
People who are unable to get a permit in their home state would not be able to carry a concealed weapon in their home state by getting a permit in another state. A state's ban on carrying concealed weapons in places such as bars, sporting events or state parks would apply to nonresidents as well as residents.
Thirty-five states have "shall issue" permit laws that usually require states to issue permits to those who meet legal requirements. Ten others have "may issue" or discretionary permit laws. Vermont, Arizona, Alaska and Wyoming do not require a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
Two controversial amendments from Republicans go down in defeat.
In Ohio, the controversial SB-5, a law that strips the public sector of their collective bargaining was defeated by the voters.
In Mississippi, the controversial "personhood" amendment was defeated also. The amendment was to make an embryo or fertilized egg a living being. It would put a hold on abortions and cause a threat to the landmark decision of Roe v. Wade.
These culture war battles were defeated by voters. The most important things that came to most voters, jobs.
A sign of disappointment in the public sector. Most voters are rejecting school levies. The voters can't afford paying more for schools. And with Republican governors cut funding for schools and public transportation, these sectors are going to make difficult cuts.
Republicans are not polling well. According TPM, President Obama and the Democrats have succeeded at convincing voters that Republicans are trying to delay economic recovery, according to a series of recent polls.
The new data suggests that about half the country, including a majority of self-identified independents, believe that congressional Republicans are using their political power to thwart Obama’s efforts to reduce unemployment, presenting Democrats an opportunity to make this argument more explicitly as the 2012 campaign moves forward — to undercut Republicans’ claims that Obama and the Dems bear full responsibility for the economy, and to make their pattern of obstruction a real liability for them.
Suffolk University polled registered voters in Florida and found that nearly half of voters, including large minorities of conservatives and Republicans, believed “Republicans are intentionally stalling efforts to jump-start the economy to insure that Barack Obama is not re-elected?”
On Monday, a nation-wide Washington Post/ABC News poll yielded similar results. The question in the Post/ABC poll was different — it asked respondents to choose between “President Obama is making a good faith effort to deal with the country’s economic problems, but the Republicans in Congress are playing politics by blocking his proposals and programs,” and “President Obama has not provided leadership on the economy, and he is just blaming the Republicans in Congress as an excuse for not doing his job.”
Once again, half of their respondents went with option one. But as Greg Sargent noted, that’s because Republican voters overwhelmingly disagreed. By contrast, a healthy majority of moderates and independents agree with the economic sabotage premise.
Also on Monday, liberal blogger Markos Moulitsas publicized the top lines of a PPP poll he commissioned, which closely mimic the the Post/ABC survey: “50% think GOP intentionally stalling economy, incl 51% of Indies, & 15% of GOPers. Details Tuesday.”
It’s not all good news for the Democrats. Polls still suggest Obama hasn’t opened a big gap between himself and the GOP on the question of who’s a better steward of the economy. But if the notion that elected Republicans are blocking economic recovery for political gain becomes a mainstream proposition, they’ve got big trouble — particularly if small but substantial numbers of their own voters believe this to be the case, and disapprove of the strategy.
The Republicans are wrapping their asses around the American flag in preparedness of a "culture war!" A culture war in which, "In God We Trust" is more important than trying to work on a reasonable bill to help put Americans back to work.
The Republicans can put forth bills to recognize a motto, tweet about the debt count and put out web videos insulting President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party. It's the party's choice to make these decisions.
Republicans were elected to take over the House of Representatives and state/territorial governorships, so far they have not presented reasonable solutions to helping Americans find work.
Everything President Barack Obama is presenting to help the middle class is a "giveaway to the low incrumbs" according to the Republicans and its allies in the conservative media. The first session of the 112th Congress has been wasted on abortion laws, pork barrel spending, making lawmakers read the Constitution before presenting bills and stripping benefits from seniors and the poor.
At a 9% job approval according to the CBS/New York Times poll, this Republican House will be the "Do Nothing Congress!" Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Jillian Rayfield October 27, 2011, 5:55 AM 4300 69
There is no “Go” space in the anti-welfare board game “Obozo’s America,” but rest assured — you can still collect welfare benefits as you pass the “First Of The Month” space.
The game is called “OBOZO’S AMERICA: Why Bother Working for a Living?” with the tagline “The Most Timely and Original Board Game of the Decade!” The website describes it as “a fun fantasy board game based on the preposterous notion that a Marxist clown, running on the vague and shaky platform of hope and change, could become President of The United States.”
The object is to keep collecting benefits while avoiding the “Working Person’s Rut.” From the rather embarrassingly low-tech website:
Get your initial $1,000 cash grant at the First of the Month, then maneuver along Obozo’s Welfare Promenade. Get cash for your out-of-wedlock children. Draw from a stack of Welfare Benefit Cards. Get extra cash from Saturday Night crimes: Gambling, Armed Robbery, Drugs, and Prostitution. Play the lottery and the horses. Get your live-in a job on the Government Cakewalk. Experience the Jail Jaunt. Avoid landing on one of those dreaded “Get a Job” blocks forcing you onto the Working Person’s Rut (Somebody has to pay for Obozo’s Welfare Promenade). 50 Welfare Benefit Cards. 50 Working Person’s Burden Cards. Lots of funny money.
The site features the game’s mascot “Obozo The Marxist Clown” — who also graces the game’s fake currency — and boasts of the “welfare benefit cards” like “you lose perspective and apply for a job, but are denied it. Oboze says: Scream ‘racism’ until welfare lawyer gets you $1,000 settlement.”
In the Economy version of the game, you get “a stack of over a half-a-million dollars in play money (we’re talking serious welfare fraud here), 50 Welfare Benefit Cards, 50 Working Person’s Burden Cards, 30 Out-of-Wedlock Children.” The Deluxe version has a spill-proof surface and the out-of-wedlock children are easier to cut out of the paper they’re printed on.
The game was created by Ron Pramschufer and Bob Johnson, who run Hammerhead Enterprises in Maryland, and was originally released in 1980 as “Public Assistance: Why Bother Working for a Living?”
“We didn’t invent this game, government liberals did,” Johnson said then. “We just put it in a box.”
In a press release Wednesday, Johnson announced that the game was coming back, claiming it “was forced off the retail market in the 1980s by government officials working with the NAACP, NOW, and other welfare ‘rights’ groups.”
“We intended the game as a parody of government liberalism, with a special focus on the able-bodied loaferism, welfare fraud, and social chaos its domestic policies promote,” Johnson wrote in 2009. “Threatened by the game’s popularity, embarrassed liberals successfully implemented a nationwide government plan to ‘remove the game from the marketplace.’”
The game was entangled in a number of lawsuits after several government officials and the NAACP criticized it as racist and sexist for its depiction of “welfare queens” and other stereotypes. Pramschufer and Johnson first sued (sub req.) a New York City official who sent a letter to retailers urging them not to sell the game, saying “keeping this game off the shelves of your stores would be a genuine public service.” They lost the case and their ultimate appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court, but they also filed a suit against the NAACP and NOW, according to the AP (sub req.).
But in the 90s when they re-released the game — complete with a new “Criminal Justice” side of the board — and claimed it had been banned, the Attorney General of Maryland said there was never a ban on the game. “The state wouldn’t have had the authority to ban this game whatsoever,” then-AG Kathy Schultz said (sub req.), according to the Washington Times.
ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal judge temporarily blocked Florida's new law that requires welfare applicants to pass a drug test before receiving benefits on Monday, saying it may violate the Constitution's ban on unreasonable searches and seizures.
Judge Mary Scriven ruled in response to a lawsuit filed on behalf of a 35-year-old Navy veteran and single father who sought the benefits while finishing his college degree, but refused to take the test. The judge said there was a good chance plaintiff Luis Lebron would succeed in his challenge to the law based on the Fourth Amendment, which protects individuals from being unfairly searched.
The drug test can reveal a host of private medical facts about the individual, Scriven wrote, adding that she found it "troubling" that the drug tests are not kept confidential like medical records. The results can also be shared with law enforcement officers and a drug abuse hotline.
"This potential interception of positive drug tests by law enforcement implicates a `far more substantial' invasion of privacy than in ordinary civil drug testing cases," Scriven said.
The judge also said Florida didn't show that the drug testing program meets criteria for exceptions to the Fourth Amendment.
The injunction will stay in place until the judge can hold a full hearing on the matter. She didn't say when that hearing will be scheduled.
More than two-dozen states have also proposed drug-testing recipients of welfare or other government assistance, but Florida was the first state to enact such a law in more than a decade. Should any of those states pass a law and face a court challenge, Scriven's ultimate ruling would likely serve as a legal precedent.
The law's proponents include Gov. Rick Scott, who said during his campaign the measure would save $77 million. It's unclear how he arrived at those figures. A spokesman for the Florida Department of Children and Families deferred all comments to the governor's office.
"Drug testing welfare recipients is just a common-sense way to ensure that welfare dollars are used to help children and get parents back to work," said Jackie Schutz, a spokeswoman for Scott. "The governor obviously disagrees with the decision and he will evaluate his options regarding when to appeal."
Earlier this year, Scott also ordered drug testing of new state workers and spot checks of existing state employees under him. But testing was suspended after the American Civil Liberties Union also challenged that policy in a separate lawsuit.
Nearly 1,600 applicants have refused to take the test since testing began in mid-July, but they aren't required to say why. Thirty-two applicants failed the test and more than 7,000 have passed, according to the Department of Children and Families. The majority of positives were for marijuana.
State officials said Monday that applicants previously denied benefits for testing positive or refusing the test could reapply immediately. The Department of Children and Families will also approve all pending applications that await drug test results.
Supporters had argued applicants skipped the test because they knew they would have tested positive for drugs. Applicants must pay $25 to $35 for the test and are reimbursed by the state if they pass. It's unclear if the state has saved money.
Under the Temporary Assistance For Needy Families program, the state gives $180 a month for one person or $364 for a family of four.
Those who test positive for drugs are ineligible for the cash assistance for one year, though passing a drug course can cut that period in half. If they fail a second time, they are ineligible for three years.
Lebron, who is the sole caretaker of his 4-year-old son, said he's "happy that the judge stood up for me and my rights and said the state can't act without a reason or suspicion."
The ACLU says Florida was the first to enact such a law since Michigan tried more than a decade ago. Michigan's random drug testing program for welfare recipients lasted five weeks in 1999 before it was halted by a judge, kicking off a four-year legal battle that ended with an appeals court ruling it unconstitutional.
Juan Varela was shot in the neck in his front yard in Phoenix, Ariz., last May by his neighbor Gary Kelley. Moments before killing Varela in front of his mother and brother, Kelley yelled, "Go back to Mexico or die!" Varela was not an illegal immigrant, but a fifth generation American of Mexican descent, said Carlos Galindo, the family's spokesperson in a phone interview.
In May 2009, 9-year-old Brisenia Flores and her father Raul Flores were murdered by members of a Minuteman vigilante group. The child and her father were both American-born U.S. citizens. Leader Shawna Forde broke into the Flores home in Arivaca, Ariz., with two men she recruited to help her fund her splinter Minuteman organization. After the group shot and killed her father, Brisenia pleaded with the Forde and her accomplices, saying, "Please don't shoot me." One of the masked figures then shot her in the face at point blank range, her mother, the lone survivor, said in her testimony. Forde was convicted of first degree murder in February of 2011 and sentenced to death.
Last November, two Mexican nationals, cousins Alex Cauich and Jose Omar Cauich, were brutally assaulted by a group of white men while standing in front of a bar in San Francisco. Witnesses on the scene heard the assailants yelling "run like you ran across the border" during the incident. Last week, three men with connection to a white supremacist group were convicted in the assault. San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, who worked as a police officer in Arizona and California for more than twenty years, told The Huffington Post that he perceives this crime and others like it to be part of rising anti-Latino sentiments around the country.
Recent studies conducted by the National Institute of Justice, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the FBI and the Pew Research Center seem to show that these incidents were not isolated hate events, but part of a greater trend.
The preliminary findings of a congressionally-mandated study by the National Institute of Justice suggest that anti-Latino hate crimes rose disproportionally to other hate crimes between 2004 and 2008. The study estimates that in 2003 there were 426 hate crimes against Latinos, while in 2007 there were 595 nationally.
According to the same study, California and Texas saw the most anti-Latino hate crimes, as well as more dramatic increases of such incidents than other states. Data collected by the FBI also indicates a steady rise in anti-Latino hate crimes across the country from 2003 to 2007.
A report by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a nonprofit civil rights organization based in Montgomery, contends that the number of "radical right groups" in America -- including hate groups, "Patriot" groups and nativist groups -- increased in 2010 for the second year in a row.
Although recent studies indicate anti-Latino hate crimes have been on the rise over the last decade, many believe their numbers are even greater than those reported. Mark Potok, a spokesperson for the SPLC, said in an interview with The Huffington Post that, "one thing to understand is that Latinos, and in particular undocumented immigrants, are among the least likely to report hate crimes because they fear deportation."
RACE AND POLICY DEBATES
Many, including the family members of victims, associate a rise in anti-Latino hate crime and an increase in anti-Latino sentiments with the on-going, virulent immigration debate around the country.
Varela's family in Phoenix told The Huffington Post that they believe his murder was provoked by the heated controversy surrounding the passage of Arizona's S.B. 1070 law two weeks prior. According to Carlos Galindo, the family's spokesperson, Kelley's attorney admitted in court that his client was going to the Varela home on the day of Juan's murder in order to discuss the the family's attendance at an S.B. 1070 protest. Galindo also said the immigration debate created a dangerous environment for Latinos in his state.
"It's gone from a frustration with the federal government not doing their job, to a frustration with the immigrants and with Latinos in general," said Galindo. "People are encouraging this kind of demonization and this culture of hatred which results in violence," he added.
In 9-year old Brisenia's murder, the Associated Press reported that Shawna Forde was motivated to break into the Flores home because she "considered Raul Flores a drug smuggler and wanted to use his drug proceeds for a paramilitary organization to seal off the border to immigrants." According to CNN reports, no drugs were found in the Flores home.
Raul "Junior" and Brisenia Flores were killed by a minuteman group with ties to the White Nationalist Movement.
George Gascón, the San Francisco district attorney, said in an interview with The Huffington Post that he associates the brutal assault of the Cauich cousins and a "recent surge of anti-Latino hate crimes" in his city, with economic factors and the immigration debate. Gascón believes that immigration debates in Arizona, Utah, Georgia, South Carolina and now Alabama have been "fueled by race-based sentiments."
"It's going to take a lot of good people with a lot of good intentions on both sides of the debate to shift the dialogue away from race, and back to policy," Gascón said.
Mark Potok, the SPLC spokesman, believes that reporting around the immigration debate has led directly to a more hostile environment for Latinos in America because it "focuses a lot of negative attention around Latinos." He explained, "When leaders and politicians get press and promote stereotypes, it encourages others to hate Latinos as well -- so it helps to spread the poison... There are ways of having a debate about immigration without demonizing one group of people."
But while Potok also blames "nativist" groups like Minuteman organizations for spurring hatred against Latinos and immigrants, Howie Morgan, the national political director of the Minuteman Project said in a phone interview with The Huffington Post that his organization has never framed the debate in racial terms.
Shawna Forde, a former prostitute, beautician who has ties to a white supremacist group. Her involvement in a minuteman group that killed Raul "Junior" and Brisenia Flores. Forde is currently sitting on death row for the murder.
"We have never demonized Latinos. In fact, we have been demonized as racists by 'La Raza' -- which means 'The Race' by the way... When we have come across organizations in the Minuteman movement that align themselves with racism, we've thrown them out and repudiated their statements. We continue to make sure this not about race, but about policy. We are a pro-immigrant organization, and calling us racist is simply inaccurate," he told HuffPost. Morgan was referring to the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) which considers itself the "largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization" in the country.
But Gascón, thinks the Minutemen are ignoring an "elephant in the room."
"I'm glad the [Minuteman Project's] official stance is that it shouldn't be a race-based conversation," Gascon said in a phone intervew. "But the elephant in the room when you talk about immigration is that a very large number of immigrants come from Latin America. If you start talking about illegal immigration, what comes to mind? Do you think of someone from Eastern Europe or Asia or do you think of a Latino?"
According to a 2009 study, more Americans think that Hispanics are the targets of discrimination in American society than say the same about any other major racial or ethnic group. According to Mark Hugo Lopez, the associate director of the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research organization that seeks to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population, the PHC's studies found that, prior to 2009, African Americans were perceived to be the group most discriminated against.
Lopez also said that on average, Latinos are thinking about discrimination and immigration as bigger issues for their community than they did just a few years ago. In 2010, 61 percent of Latinos believed that discrimination against Hispanics is a "major problem," up from 54 percent in 2007. And in 2010, when asked to state the most important factor leading to discrimination, a "plurality of 36 percent cited immigration status as most important, up from a minority of 23 percent who said the same in 2007," reported Lopez.
In an interview with a local paper, Gilberto Esquivel, a member of the Riverside Human Relations Commission, said that the 50 percent increase in hate crimes against Latinos in California in 2010 was directly tied to the passage of the S.B. 1070 immigration law in Arizona. In Esquivel's county alone, the FBI documented 21 hate crimes in 2010, up from 12 in 2009.
Esquivel believes "anti-Latino and anti-immigrant remarks became more numerous and hateful on conservative talk radio, in newspaper letters to editors and on the Internet."
"The hate is there," Esquivel said. "[S.B. 1070] gives it legitimacy."
TPM lets people know that this wasn't a free ride for President Barack Obama and the media. I can hear Sean Hannity say the "Obama Mania Mainstream Media" once again!
Benjy Sarlin
It isn’t easy being the guy in charge. A new study from Pew Research Center of campaign coverage finds that only 9% of news reports on President Obama have been “positive,” easily the lowest number of any of the major candidates. Surprisingly, Rick Perry fares the best with 32% positive coverage and non-candidate Sarah Palin is right behind him at 31%. Take a look:
Study finds harsh media coverage for Obama
By Brian Montopoli, CBS News
President Obama "has suffered the most unrelentingly negative treatment" of all presidential candidates over the past five months, according to a study released Monday from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.
Pew found that Mr. Obama was the subject of negative assessments nearly four times as often as he was the subject of positive assessments. It found he received "positive" coverage nine percent of the time, "neutral" coverage 57 percent of the time and "negative" coverage 34 percent of the time.
The study, which was conducted using a combination of "traditional media research methods [and] computer algorithms to track the level and tone of coverage," cuts against the widespread conservative claim that the "liberal media" aides Mr. Obama and other Democrats while attacking Republicans.
Pew says it looked at coverage from more than 11,500 news outlets, including local and national broadcasts, news websites and blogs.
Mr. Obama's negative coverage could be explained in part by the fact that he is "covered largely as president rather than a candidate," Pew said - and coverage of him is linked to the struggling economy.
Among the Republican presidential candidates, Pew found that Rick Perry has received the most positive coverage of all the candidates, with 32 percent positive coverage. He was followed by Sarah Palin (31 percent), Michele Bachmann (31 percent), Herman Cain (28 percent) and Mitt Romney (26 percent.) Palin, a vocal critic of the media, ultimately decided not to seek the GOP nomination.
Perry had the best ratio of any candidate, with 32 percent positive coverage to 20 percent negative coverage, a 12 percent net positive ratings in terms of coverage. He was followed by Palin (with 9 percent net positive coverage), Bachmann (8 percent net positive), Cain (5 percent net positive), Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman (both with 4 percent net positive coverage.) Pew found that Cain surged in positive coverage starting in late August - even before he did so in the polls.
The only candidate who received more negative coverage than Mr. Obama was Newt Gingrich, whom Pew found was the subject of negative coverage 35 percent of the time. That can be attrubited in part to his early stumbles, including his criticism of the House GOP Medicare plan and the decision by top staffers to abandom Gingrich's campaign. While Pew found that Mr. Obama received just nine percent positive coverage, however, Gingrich received 15 percent positive coverage.
The candidates with the worst coverage ratio were Mr. Obama (25 percent net negative coverage), Gingrich (20 percent net negative), Rick Santorum (3 percent net negative) and Mitt Romney (1 percent net negative.)
As Politico's Keach Hagey notes, Pew found that Mr. Obama had widely positive media coverage during his first 100 days in office, with 42 percent positive coverage and 20 percent negative coverage.
To assess the tone of coverage, PEJ researchers then employed computer algorithmic software from Crimson Hexagon. Researchers conducted a tone analysis and then "trained" the algorithm to follow the same rules as they had themselves. PEJ also conducted inter-coder tests to ensure the computer coding was replicable and valid by comparing human coding to the results derived by the algorithm. The project also had different people build the algorithms separately to ensure that they were achieving consistent results. Each computer algorithm was then additionally tested for reliability by having multiple researchers review the content assessed and the results. The tone analysis was conducted on two different samples. The first was of the coverage and commentary on more than 11,500 news outlets, based on their RSS feeds. While the content is text based, the material on various television news sites often closely resembled the stories that had aired on television, and in some cases were exact transcripts. The second was from hundreds of thousands of blogs. (Facebook and Twitter feeds were not included after researchers found that the political assessment offered there was typically quite brief or referred to blog or news content.)
Republicans are opposing the American's Jobs Act that President Barack Obama presented to the Congress. The plan calls for $448 billion in job creation, infrastructure and spending cuts for the middle class. The president's plan calls for tax increases on the high end earners. The Republicans oppose the tax increases and just about everything the president wants. We're in gridlock right now and people are suffering. The overall job approval is 15% and Americans are really fed up with the way Congress is acting.
The America's Job Creator Plan is a ten page plan in which includes tax cuts, deregulation and the repeal of the Affordable Health Care for America Act (Obamacare).
Key Republicans want to pass a clearly partisan bill in which they know President Obama will reject upon its passage. Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas) once again prove that even if they wanted to try they fail at doing so!
President Barack Obama jobs plan is 200 pages. The Republicans have ten pages. There's something wrong here!
Opinion: The job crisis: Solved in 10 pages?
GOP’s Plan for America’s Job Creators is empty of any real solutions
House Republicans, led by Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), recently released their Plan for America’s Job Creators. The document, as well as a shortened summary version, can be accessed from http://majorityleader.gov.
When I first opened the full document, I thought I had chosen the summary by mistake. As Paul Krugman notes, it “has to rely on extra-large type and lots of pointless pictures to bulk it out even to 10 pages.” Indeed, the equivalent of four pages of the document consists of images of cars at the gas station, scissors cutting red tape, and the like. Another page is a platitude-ridden introduction that could be substituted by manic repetition of the phrases “common-sense,” “pro-growth,” “job creators,” and “remove Washington” to the same effect.
But what of the other five pages? Surely there is some substance in there! Let us explore the House
Republican eight-pronged approach to job creation.
First we must deal with the problem of “burdensome regulations.” (I only use quotes because “burden” is mentioned no less than five times in half a page.) House Republicans offer the sensible first step of passing “legislation that requires a congressional review and approval of any proposed federal government regulation that will have a significant impact on the economy.” If you are as impressed as I initially was, take note of which regulations House Republicans have singled out for the chopping block: EPA-mandated limits on greenhouse gas emissions, the FCC’s net neutrality proposal, and restrictions on pesticide use. Of course.
Next on the agenda is the quixotic yet admirable task of fixing the tax code once and for all. Their proposal is a flat federal tax rate of 25 percent for businesses and individuals. If this proposal sounds ridiculous to anyone with concern for the poor and the working class, be comforted by the fact that Republicans only want to “ensure that everyone pays their fair share.” Never mind the fact that such a change would actually raise the effective income tax rate for the vast majority of Americans. As a benchmark for comparison, a married couple filing jointly with a taxable income of $282,000 currently pays about 25 percent income tax. House Republicans’ goal to cut taxes solely for the wealthiest Americans is abundantly clear.
The third proposal — to pass free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea — has apparently been blocked by Democrats’ posturing for three years. Well, one politician’s posturing is another politician’s attention to human rights abuses in Colombia or the well-being of auto workers in America.
The fourth step is fostering entrepreneurship by reforming the U.S. patent system. This proposal has received broad bipartisan support and collaboration. The House Patent Reform Act of 2011 was passed in the House Judiciary Committee by a vote of 32-3 on April 14. In short, it is not a solely Republican solution as the document declares.
The next two opportunities for improvement are visa reform and the reauthorization of the FDA user fee programs, through which the FDA collects money from companies seeking drug or medical device approval in order to test said products. I don’t have much to say about these proposals, mostly because they are hardly even proposals. House Republicans do not make plain exactly what they plan to do, but they do make it apparent that they will be Creating American Jobs. Indeed, I’m not sure what the purpose is of the page allotted to these two topics. I wonder whether Eric Cantor and his ilk are hoping that if they repeat the phrases “job creation,” “job creators,” “create American jobs,” etc. — which they did 31 times in the 86-sentence document — they will ingrain in the reader a subconscious association between Republicans and job creation.
Now, what do House Republicans have to say about energy? They first make it clear that the problem is rising energy costs and point out that, since President Obama took office, the price of a gallon of gas has doubled. This is a facile and erroneous observation and an obvious attempt to falsely pin blame to Obama.
Gas prices fell dramatically after the record-setting summer of 2008 because of the global economic meltdown.
The fact that they started to rise afterward has nothing to do with the president.
To suggest that we should prefer an economy in shambles over $4-per-gallon gasoline is ridiculous. What’s more, the primary method that Republicans have suggested to lower gas prices is “Drill, baby, drill.” They don’t seem to realize that feeding an addiction is nothing more than a short-term solution.
And House Republicans don’t stop there. They go on to fault Obama and congressional Democrats for our largest-ever budget deficits. As ignorant of history as ever, they overlook the budget surpluses of a decade ago and the catastrophic effects of the global financial collapse.
With the way they continue to insult the American people with these so-called “solutions,” it’s obvious House Republicans do not take us seriously, and we have every reason to respond in kind.
The Ohio Republican legislature passed a open firearm in bar bill in 2011. The governor John Kasich, first term has been marred in controversy. The SB 5 bill which strips public sector unions of collective bargaining, calling the Upper Arlington police officer who stopped him "an idiot", partisan redistricting to favor Republicans, and his golf outing with Ohio House Speaker John Boehner, Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama has sunk job approval to low 40s.
Governor Kasich, the former host of Fox News program Heartland also has ties to NewsCorporation, Incorporated. The media network is involved in a major scandal over here and in the United Kingdom.
Here's an example of putting water on a grease fire:
• The law allows people with concealed-carry permits to keep their guns with them when they enter one of the state’s 17,000 bars, restaurants or nightclubs where alcohol is served. The law also allows a permit holder to have a loaded handgun in a vehicle even if the gun is not secured in a holster or container.
• Businesses still can ban guns on their premises by posting a sign stating guns are not permitted.
• No one is allowed to drink alcohol while carrying a gun. Doing so is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
• Eight other states specifically allow people with proper permits to carry guns into bars. A dozen other states prohibit guns in bars.
More
A Deer Park man became the first in Greater Cincinnati to face charges under Ohio’s “guns in bars” law Wednesday when he was arrested for threatening to kill a fellow bar patron.
Chad O’Reilly’s arrest came two weeks after the law took effect and immediately reignited debate between gun-rights activists and those who wanted to continue a statewide ban on guns in bars.
“This law is so absurd,” said Toby Hoover, director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence. “Without this law, maybe some fists would have flied. Instead, he’s waving a gun around.”
Supporters of the new law say it worked as intended in this case. They say O’Reilly will lose his concealed-carry permit and could face up to five years in jail if he is convicted of violating the new gun law – stiffer penalties than he would have faced under the old law.
“This fellow made a serious mistake,” said state Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Green Township, who supported changing the law. “Nothing in the law allows you to do anything other than carry a gun into an establishment if you have a permit.
“It does not give you license to brandish a gun and wave it around.”
Police say the incident occurred around 2 a.m. Wednesday when O’Reilly, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, got into a heated argument with another man at the H&H Tavern on Ohio Avenue in Deer Park.
They say O’Reilly, 25, walked out of the bar and returned a short time later with a .40-caliber semiautomatic Glock pistol in his hand.
According to the arrest report, O’Reilly shouted a racial slur at the man, who is Hispanic, and said, “I’m going to kill you.”
Deer Park police say O’Reilly’s friends ushered him out of the bar and police arrested him at gunpoint a few minutes later. He did not resist and no one was hurt.
O’Reilly, who police said had been drinking, was charged with aggravated menacing, ethnic intimidation, possession of a controlled substance (injectable testosterone) and illegal possession of a firearm in a liquor establishment.
The latter charge is related to Ohio’s new law, which allows concealed-carry permit holders to bring weapons into bars, restaurants, nightclubs and other places that serve liquor as long as they do not drink alcohol.
Ohio law previously had forbidden guns in those businesses, with or without a concealed-carry permit.
Because O’Reilly had been drinking, police say, he violated the new gun law. The other charges relate to the threats he is accused of making while brandishing the gun.
Ohio is one of several states to adopt some version of the guns in bars law, with gun-rights advocates arguing it makes sense to allow law-abiding citizens to carry their weapons rather than keep them at home or locked in a car when they go out.
The law does not allow drinking while carrying a gun and gives bar owners the option of putting up a sign banning guns on their premises.
The H&H Tavern had no such sign, but owner Dave Anderson said it soon will. He said his bar never had a problem with gun-toting patrons before and blames the new law for the incident Wednesday morning.
“I believe in the right to bear arms, but I believe that law was made in bad judgment,” Anderson said. “It’s not good for any small business to have people carrying firearms in.”
Deer Park police Lt. Daniel McCormack said O’Reilly told police he tucked his gun into his waistband, without a holster, before entering the tavern. The bartender told police he served O’Reilly two beers before the incident.
“I’m a shooter and I believe in concealed carry,” McCormack said. “But any time you have alcohol and guns, it’s just not a good mix.”
The same argument was made often when legislators debated the new law earlier this year. The Ohio Restaurant Association, with more than 2,400 members, opposed the law on grounds that alcohol and guns are a bad combination.
Seitz and others, however, have said the nearly 250,000 Ohioans with concealed-carry permits are law-abiding citizens who should be allowed to keep their firearms with them.
To obtain a concealed-carry permit, a person must complete at least 12 hours of training, including two hours on a firing range, pass a criminal background check and pay various fees.
Seitz said the potential penalties O’Reilly faces for violating the law should discourage other permit holders from drinking while carrying a gun.
“The draconian sanctions on those who violate this law will act as a deterrent on those who would do something foolish in the future,” Seitz said.
Anderson, the bar owner, said he just doesn’t want a repeat of what happened Wednesday morning.
“We’ve been in business 21 years,” he said. “We’ve never had a thing like this happen before.”
